People run for their lives after shots were fired at the J'Ouvert carnival early Monday.Stephen Yang

Two people were shot to death and four others wounded early Monday at the bustling J’Ouvert carnival celebrating Caribbean culture in Brooklyn – sparking pandemonium hours before the city’s annual West Indian Day Parade.

At least four people were shot and two people were stabbed despite a heavy police presence to ensure safety during the raucous event, which has been routinely marred by violence.

Emergency personnel help an injured woman at the scene of the shooting at the J’Ouvert carnival early Monday.Stephen Yang

The first shootings happened at 3:45 a.m. at Flatbush Avenue and Empire Boulevard in Crown Heights, where Tyreke Borel, 17, was shot in the chest and died at Kings County Hospital, sources said.

A 72-year-old woman was shot in the forearm as she sat on a nearby bench, sources said. The victim, identified as Margaret Peters, is expected to live.

One or both were unintended targets who were hit in the crossfire, officials said.

Another woman, identified as Valarie Joseph, 66, was originally thought to have been shot but apparently cut her leg when she fell.

At 4:15 a.m., Tiarah Poyau, 22, was fatally shot in the eye at Washington Avenue and Empire Boulevard, police said.

Poyau wrote on her LinkedIn page that she was an international tax intern at PricewaterhouseCoopers and an aspiring accountant. She listed St. John’s University as her undergraduate and graduate school.

The NYPD secures the scene after a shooting at the J’Ouvert carnival.Stephen Yang

A woman was stabbed at Empire Boulevard and Ocean Avenue, but police said she refused medical attention.

A 20-year-old man also suffered a non-life-threatening injury when he was shot in the leg by a male with a 9mm handgun Rogers and Clarkson avenues, where two groups exchanged words about 6:45 a.m., officials said. He was taken to Kings County Hospital.

Another man was also stabbed in the leg at Classon Avenue and Eastern Parkway around 5:30 a.m.

The shootings erupted while as many as 40 cops – aided by powerful lights — were stationed only feet away, sources said.

Dozens of panicked people stampeded over each other during the chaos – with dozens hurtling themselves over barricades and taking cover behind anything solid, including garbage cans and cars.

Scores of officers with their hands on their service weapons ran toward the Wendy’s parking lot on Empire between Flatbush and Washington. Police and EMS responded within seconds.

The NYPD had planned to double the number of cops patrolling the neighborhood where a procession of steel drums and costumed revelers was set to kick off at 4 a.m. for J’ouvert.

The department also added 42 new security cameras to watch over an estimated 250,000 revelers and illuminated this year’s celebration with 200 light towers. For the first time, organizers of the parade were required to get a permit.

Police, in conjunction with community groups, also distributed fliers with the stern warning: “This community will no longer tolerate this violence. Do not shoot anyone. Do not stab anyone.”

Mayor de Blasio addressed the shootings during a breakfast before the parade.

“We don’t accept the status quo of any violence … We’re not happy with what happened last night. We won’t accept what happened last night, we have more work to do. But I also want to remember all the people who worked hard,” he said, thanking the NYPD.

The NYPD secures the scene after the shooting at the J’Quvert festival early Monday.Stephen Yang

“We will not let a few who do the wrong thing define the hundreds and thousands who do the right thing,” he continued. “We’re never going to let the few who turn to violence define the hundreds of thousands who are agents of peace and understanding every single day. We have to remember that.”

De Blasio also thanked the family of Randolph Holder, the NYPD cop with Caribbean roots who was killed last year while chasing down a gunman who shot him in the head in Harlem.

Last week, Hizzoner and NYPD brass cited the “extraordinary” security measures that would be taken in the wake of Gabay’s murder.

“Anyone who attempts an act of violence, we’re going to get ’em,” the mayor declared at a press conference in Prospect Park last week along with Police Commissioner Bill Bratton.

Mark Ward Jr., 29, an electrician, said he was surprised the gunfire erupted near the well-lit area near Prospect Park.

“The Haitians and the Jamaicans in my neighborhood — we’re just talking about this and how we are worried that the celebration will be canceled next year, or they’ll cut down on the events and late-night activities because people don’t know how to cooperate,” he said.

“It’s random shootings into the crowd. None of it looks like a targeted situation. This is been happening all around me for too long,” he added.

Despite a heavy police presence, two people were shot dead during the carnival.Stephen Yang

A Wendy’s worker said it was “crazy” that the violence occurred in the open area.

“But this happens every year. Always something bad happens out here and that’s why I never want to come to the parade but I had to work today,” said the worker, who declined to be named.

Gabay, a 43-year-old lawyer who had worked for Cuomo and was deputy counsel of the state’s economic development agency, was shot in the head as two street gangs exchanged gunshots during the festivities.

Earlier the same morning, a Bronx man, Denentro Josiah, was stabbed to death during the event

In 2014, a man was fatally shot and two people wounded during the celebration.

The NYPD announced it would increase the number of light towers in the area from 40 to more than 200, employ 42 additional cameras and double the number of cops at the event.

At the breakfast Monday, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito echoed de Blasio’s statements.

“We have to come together and not allow, clearly, the actions of a few to mar the beauty that exists in this parade and the events that surround it, that celebrate that culture and diversity,” she said.

“We need to come together as a community to denounce violence against any members of our neighbors, any actions that reflect negatively and poorly on our community,” she said.

Organizers say the early morning festivities that led to what is now J’ouvert started in the 1980s.

The tradition originated in the Caribbean and is celebrated in several North American cities with West Indian communities, including Boston and Toronto.

The name, J’ouvert, means daybreak, put together from the French words “jour” and “ouvert.”

City officials and community organizers have long chafed at the perception that J’ouvert, and the even larger West Indian Day American Day parade that follows hours later, are intrinsically hospitable to violence.